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The lights are glaringly hot, and my armpits feel like the inside of a damp swamp, but I’ve just survived the first segment of my interview with Jane Morgan. Across the room, behind a crew managing cameras and microphones and the swamp lighting, my mother gives me a smile of encouragement.

This interview, it’s the compromise to me playing bait. Turns out my mother had been fielding interview requests for weeks, buffering me from the hordes of journalists that had been vying for an exclusive.

Apparently, everyone was curious about the Sex Slaves of Serendee and due to statements I’d made to the police about my time in captivity, the branding, the secret women’s club, and Timothy Wray’s plan to make me his mate, my name was at the top of the list.

“Are you ready?” Jane asks. Her hair is perfect, a thick helmet framing her symmetrical face. Her eye makeup is thick, making her seem a little unreal. Can someone’s eyes really be that color blue?

I think of Rex. Yes.

The weird thing is she’s exactly how Anex would have described a member of the media: a superficial puppet whose only goal is to exploit the Enlightened out of jealousy.

Which is not howIview her. It’s not, but those mental assumptions are hard to shake.

“You’ve already told us a little about your childhood and what it was like growing up in Serendee. We’ll start with a few more easy questions before we build up to the heavy stuff, then we’ll bring in your mother.”

“Sounds good.” I smooth out my black skirt and shift on the couch cushion, a lame attempt to hide my nerves. I don’t think it works. “I’m ready when you are.”

The camera man gives his cue, and around us the lights dim, other than the bright ones directed at us. My mother gives me a tight smile, and I’m reminded why I’m here.

Timothy Wray can hide, but we’re going to expose him for his crimes. We’re going to reveal the world to who he really is even if it means having to expose myself to do it. Camille and I were intentional when picking out which show to give an exclusive interview. Popular, with a big audience, and a reporter that would make me look strong but sympathetic.

Jane Morgan was the winner.

“Imogene,” she starts, “for the majority of our audience… well, they’re going to have a hard time believing you and the other residents didn’t know about Timothy Wray’s illegal activities.” She looks down at a sheath of papers. “Tax evasion, money laundering, distribution of illegal substances and of course, the horrifying charges of sex trafficking and imprisonment. Is it possible for all of that to be going on and no one being aware of it?”

Way to start with an easy one, Jane.

“I won’t justify our ignorance. And that is what we were, ignorant and naive about the truths of our home—in Serendee. We were very isolated from what we called the “secular world” and Anex controlled the access we had to information coming in and out of our community.”

“Including media, right?”

“Correct. We had no televisions or radios. We relied on Anex to let us know what was important and to make the standards for how we lived and worked. He gave us skewed views of government and laws.” I swallow, feeling the heat prick the back of my neck. “It feels foolish to say we just didn’t know, but we didn’t, and even if we did, what would we do about it?”

“You were afraid of him.”

It’s not a question but I answer it anyway. “Yes, very much so and the more I learned, the more I understood how much danger we were in.”

She leans forward. “In what way?”

I take a deep breath and try to formulate my words. Camille, Levi, and I spent hours going over possible questions, but now that I’m here it’s a struggle to articulate it accurately. “Timothy Wray controlled our minds and bodies. He managed what we ate, what we wore and when we slept. We spent hours listening to his lectures and absorbing his propaganda.” I give her a small smile. “That’s a word I just learned. It wasn’t part of our vocabulary.”

“Did he punish people?”

I’m not going to talk about the corrections. I’d already made that decision. I’m also not speaking about my relationship with my men. Anex already used that against me once, I won’t allow it to happen again.

“In his own way. The biggest reward you could get from Anex was his attention. It was the most coveted thing in Serendee. He knew it, and he doled it out carefully and strategically. He didn’t have to punish people often because all anyone wanted was his approval.”

“Is it true you were arranged to marry his son?”

“Yes.”Mate.

“And that allowed you to become part of what people refer to as his ‘inner circle.”

“It did.”

“And being part of that inner circle allowed you more access to Timothy Wray and his activities?” she asks.

“I don’t think it allowed me more access to him,” I struggle to breathe just admitting it. “I think it allowed him more access to me.”